Unleash Your Creativity, by Mary Sara Pipia

May is a month that seems to be filled with lots of family time – birthdays (I have lots of family and friends who celebrate May birthdays), Mother’s Day, graudations, weddings, and whatever else might happen. May also means that winter is pretty much behind us and that summer is not far away. While I am truly grateful for the mild winter we enjoyed here in New England, I love summer (could be because I’m a summer birthday) and I can’t wait to enjoy summer.

Found this picture on Pinterest. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite springtime flowers and I just love all the colors, especially pink. Wonderful source of inspiration for crafting and scrapbooking. Look around your home and outside, you’d be surprised where we could find inspiration.

May also is a great time to get some creative juices flowing. Why not have a girls night and invite some girlfriends over and got out the ink pads, stamps, paper and washi tape and go to town? I can help you if you want to plan a girls night out, just drop me a comment or contact me.

May Spotlight, is called Garden Party shown here and you can also find all the details here on my web site along with the information on our 20% off individual ink pad sale.

Hope you have a wonderful May. Enjoy your family and make some time to do something creative.

Just stopping by to say that while I hate losing an hour of sleep in the morning, I love that we stay lighter out later in the day and that means that spring and summer aren’t far behind. What do you like better.. springing forward or falling back?

A Muse Studio’s 1st year birthday celebration is well underway. Please check out my a muse stuido web site for all the details and contact me if you’re interested in hosting a workshop or placing an order. There’s also lots of fun birthday celebrations happening at the Facebook page for A Muse Studio, so if you haven’t liked it yet, what are you waiting for? Also, be sure to “like” A Passion For Creativity – Mary Sara Pipia’s Facebook page as well as I update that more frequently than my blog.

Heading off to spend some creative time with friends next Saturday, so hope to have some fun spring and Easter inspiration to post soon.

In the meantime, enjoy the day and remember to do something creative today.

Once again too much time has lapsed between blog posts. This fall I was recovering from some minor health concerns (I”m fine) and then the holidays arrived and along with them, an extremely busy time at work and blink and it’s now January 12, 2012. So, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU for stopping by to check out my blog and especially those of you who subscribe/follow my blog for hanging in there.

Let me first share some exciting a muse studio news and updates.

The 2011 catalogs for a muse studio (both the main and holiday ones) are only good through January 31, 2012 and our new 2012 a muse studio catalog becomes available on February 1, 2012. If you would like one, please contact me. There is a list of 2011 retiring stamp sets that once they are gone, are gone. Please check out my a muse studio web site for more information.

Please check out the January 2012 Sweet Treats Spotlight from a muse studio. Fun, cute ideas in time for Valentine’s Day and save 10% on five select stamps sets along with the Rock Candy assorted paper packet in complimentary colors. Special pricing good through January 31, 2012.

There will be lots of exciting things coming in 2012. A new blog is in the works for sometime later this year. New workshops are coming (if you want to book a custom/private one – contact me). Look for the launch of my new winter/spring monthly Stamping and Sweets Workshops, with the first one coming in February 2012. I promise to share lots of creative inspiration as well as sharing inspiration I find through Pinterest or other blogs.

It’s my desire and hope to blog more often this year, so once again, thanks for sticking in there with me and for following my blog, and checking back (or click subscribe). Please “Like” my Facebook page – A Passion For Creativity – Mary Sara Pipia – for 2012, as I post more often there.

Here’s hoping you have a wonderful, creative, inspirational and peaceful 2012.

Over the summer, but particularly in the last month, my new obsession has been checking out Pinterest. You can click on the link on the side to follow me, but I must say, this is a wonderful place to get inspiration and spark creativity. Everything from a new recipe for dinner tonight to a fall centerpiece to a wonderful new idea for gift wrapping. It’s really helped spark my creativity and give it a jolt. I would suggest that you check it out sometime, but be forewarned, you can lose track of time. You might be surprised at what you find.

Just dropping by with a quick post for Monday. I have the day off today and am home this morning while the plumber is here. It’s a beautiful fall day here in New England. The weather is just starting to get that crisp fall feel in the air, which here in New England is a little late this year.

I love this time of the year. Pumpkins, wonderful fall colors, jeans and sweaters, my favorite out of work outfit along with yummy pumpkin bread and caramel apples. There’s a local candy store that sells caramel apples now with all sorts of fun flavors. One of my favorites is the toffee caramel apple as I love all things both toffee and caramel. Yummy. One thing I don’t like is that the days are getting shorter and it’s getting dark out earlier and earlier. So, what do you do to celebrate fall?

Enjoy this fall day and wherever you are I hope you find something that sparks your creativity or gives you inspiration today. Thanks for stopping by.

While, it’s been a while since I posted and now I’ve blinked and it’s October. How did that happen? Since my vacation at the end of August, I’ve been dealing with some health issues, but hopefully I am finally on the mend. Because of this, my blogging has suffered a bit. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

So even though it’s October 10 and Columbus Day weekend, we’re in the middle of warm weather here in New England. Yesterday, I couldn’t believe it was 85 degrees and short weather. However, as any true New Englander knows, just wait and it will change. It’s supposed to be more fall like by the middle of the week.

So, what have you been doing lately to express your creativity? The 2011 a muse| studio Holiday and Inspiration Catalog is good through January 31, 2012. I am working on some holiday classes/workshops and more information will be posted on my Facebook page as well as a future post here. If you haven’t “Liked” my page, what are you waiting for? When I reach 77 fans, I will be giving away an A Muse Studio goodie.

World Card Making Day was Saturday, October 1, 2011 and I did a workshop with these two cards.

If you click on the picture you’ll see it in more detail. I used the Spooky Boo Day stamp set for the sentiment and the images came from the Too Cute To Spook set, which has a lot of fun images to play with. I glittered the ghost and then thought afterwards about glittering the cat with the new onyx black glitter. Everything was stamped with Memento black ink and the witch’s hat was stamped with Blackberry ink. I used orange and blackberry papers and cut out the 1 1/2″ and 1 3/4″ squares or you could use a square punch. Sugar cardstock was used for the A2 card base.

The next card I did is for fall and could be used around Thanksgiving. I used the Bounty of Season stamp set for the image and sentiment. I used a 4-bar card size in sugar cardstock and heather cardstock as the layer color along with our fine twill french roast ribbon. I stamped the wheat stalk in french roast ink on a scrap of sugar cardstock and cut it out, leaving a little white around the edge. I tied a little bit of our french roast/white baker’s twine around the stalk and then used foam tape to pop it up to give it some depth.

All supplies used in these cards are from A Muse Studio and can be found on my web site or drop me a note if you want more information.

I hope that you remember to do something creative today. Thanks for stopping by.

Welcome to the September/October Spotlight, An Elegant Halloween Bash from a muse studio. From now (started September 15) until the end of the day, October 14, 2011, we are offering a variety of products at a special discount.

This month we are offering the following stamp sets at a 10% discount off the retail price: Web Background, Victorian Charm, Foiled Again!, If You Dare, Celebrate In Style. You can also pick up the paper assortment “Jack-O-Lantern,” four sheets of five different colors (Apricot, Onyx, Pumpkin, Squash, and Toffee) for just $7.65. A great way to get a selection of colors at a serious discount. You can check out this link for some fun, creative inspiration.

Feel free to download the A Muse Studio Spotlight September 2011 with all the details and contact me with any questions or visit my web site to order. Remember, all orders over $150 qualify for hostess benefits, but you need to order directly with me to receive them. Hope you are inspired to get a start on your Halloween crafting and remember to do something creative today.